"Mercury Fur" / Harry Holland vs Sally Bliumis-Dunn

My most recent reviewing assignment for the British Theatre Guide was Philip Ridley’s controversial “Mercury Fur”, from Company Of Sirens at Chapter; all about grim doings amongst hoodie-clad youth and City types in a post-apocalyptic London. Mercifully, most of the violence takes place off-screen, but it’s all suitably disturbing. Google searches suggest that it’s quite popular amongst drama students, providing, as it does, a variety of meaty roles for young men (and one older woman).

For my latest Poetry Storehouse video experiment, I summoned up the courage to e-mail locally based painter Harry Holland to ask if I could use some of his paintings to accompany a poem by Sally Bliumis-Dunn. Luckily, he was kind enough to allow it…

"Woman As Bird, Woman As Song" - poem by Sally Bliumis-Dunn (with paintings by Harry Holland) from OTHNIEL SMITH on Vimeo.